L322 Is the battery to blame and which one should I get?

Hi there folks

2005 L322 Vogue 3.0TD6

I've been getting a pretty regular air suspension warnings (recently replaced compressor and nearside front air strut). I also occasionally see a HDC malfunction message and the radio has stopped working. Could all of these errors be attributable to a dodgy battery?

I have tested the battery using a multimeter and it's reading as low as 11.7V when not running. After a run it comes up to about 12.2V. With the engine running I had 14V+ but when I turned all the toys on it dropped to about 11.7V again.

The battery in there at the moment is a Yuasa YBX 5019 - 100Ah and 900 CCA. Going by the stickers I'd say it's a good three or four years old. Could the battery be the cause of all my problems?

Secondly, assuming it is, which battery should I replace it with? I've been reading the forum and see lots of conflicting reports about whether or not batteries will fit in the space. I'm not technically gifted and I won't be able to rig up any kind of special bracket or start shaving bits off the battery to make it fit. I've looked at two:

The Hancook MF-31 1000 which has 115Ah and 1000CCA and it's a fantastic price - but it's about 50mm taller than the battery already in there - and it doesn't look like there's enough space. Can this battery be fitted without modification to the car or battery?

The other one is a Bosch S5015 Type 020 with 110Ah and 920 CCA. It's a bit less powerful and a bit more expensive, but it looks like it might be an easier fit? (Although I've also seen someone say they had to cut bits off to get it to fit).

Any advice gratefully received as always.

Thanks

AC7X said:

Hi there folks

2005 L322 Vogue 3.0TD6

I've been getting a pretty regular air suspension warnings (recently replaced compressor and nearside front air strut). I also occasionally see a HDC malfunction message and the radio has stopped working. Could all of these errors be attributable to a dodgy battery?

I have tested the battery using a multimeter and it's reading as low as 11.7V when not running. After a run it comes up to about 12.2V. With the engine running I had 14V+ but when I turned all the toys on it dropped to about 11.7V again.

The battery in there at the moment is a Yuasa YBX 5019 - 100Ah and 900 CCA. Going by the stickers I'd say it's a good three or four years old. Could the battery be the cause of all my problems?

Secondly, assuming it is, which battery should I replace it with? I've been reading the forum and see lots of conflicting reports about whether or not batteries will fit in the space. I'm not technically gifted and I won't be able to rig up any kind of special bracket or start shaving bits off the battery to make it fit. I've looked at two:

The Hancook MF-31 1000 which has 115Ah and 1000CCA and it's a fantastic price - but it's about 50mm taller than the battery already in there - and it doesn't look like there's enough space. Can this battery be fitted without modification to the car or battery?

The other one is a Bosch S5015 Type 020 with 110Ah and 920 CCA. It's a bit less powerful and a bit more expensive, but it looks like it might be an easier fit? (Although I've also seen someone say they had to cut bits off to get it to fit).

Any advice gratefully received as always.

Thanks

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I've thought of an easy way to check this, fold a piece of cardboard, an empty cereal box would do, so it stands an extra 50mm
on top of the existing battery and, close the bonnet, if it doesn't crush it, then the MF31 1000 should fit.

11.7 means you're battery is dead, you need a new one, low volts can cause all sorts of errors

Hi, on your battery issue, I have a few health issues but my experience the actual size of the battery is a crucial point on these TD6's, just getting the standard size battery in and out of its location can be a struggle but granted that could be down to my health issues but I have no issues on any of my other vehicles with bigger sized batteries swapping out, your best bet is to do a dry run removal of your current (no pun intended lol) battery then determine if you can manage a larger sized one in there. As a second point I have had similar faults to you with radio, suspension, hdc etc and swapped to a brand new battery ( I just swapped like for like as per the original specs) and though the range rover performed much better in starting and in other systems it still had these issues, I found the problem to be the radio amplifier on left hand side of boot area was damaged considerably by damp/water ingress plus the parking control unit hidden behind the fusebox on the right hand side of boot behind fuse panel being also damaged in the same way, The pins had actually rusted away in the unit to multiplug in some parts. I swapped both for used units from ebay and all faults have so far never returned. With everything linked on canbus these L322 can have the weirdest problems caused by corroded pins in multiplugs and ecu connections. Your battery certainly needs changing but if the faults persist check those 2 ecu's at rear in first instance and hopefully it will clear your faults as it did mine, both units cost me less than £20 combined though the prices vary wildly with sellers, I just keep browsing for the bargains lol. Also started buying the ecu's I see now cheap on ebay as these seem to be the Achilles heel on these vehicles and as they age supply will become more expensive as they become harder to find decent working units, maybe worth a thought if long term you want to run the Range Rover build up a bit of a parts hoard lol. Hope this helps sorry for the long message.

certainly sounds like your battery has had it.
I fitted an S05A15 which is the same size case as the 1 you are thinking of. its tight but it fits and the original hold downs fit. (Mines LHD 2011)
The Hancock 1 seems to need a strap fitting to hold it in place.

J

Battery is goosed, when you get a new one make sure you put it on charge over night before fitting as it may have been sitting for weeks, and recheck your voltages once fitted the alternator may be faulty as well going by the voltage with all the toys on.

Others have managed to fit the MF31-1000

I'd be concerned about the alternator output?
At 2000rpm with all accessories on it should still knock out above 13v and should charge at 14+v at idle and no accessories.
If not, check for resistance between the engine and battery, chassis and engine, chassis and battery.
Also do a resistance check from the alternator output to battery, starter heavy wire to battery and alternator to starter heavy wire.

Definitely sounds like a weak battery, as above check alternator output with full load and idle no load.
I replaced my battery in September with this one
https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/bosch/s5015/
this is the one often Recomended on here for td6, especially Vogue with its extra electrics. It does only just fit but wouldn’t say it’s difficult to swap, put bonnet into service position and there’s plenty of access. It is obvious a weighty item but I found it easier putting new one in than old one out, put suspension normal mode not access, this gives you room to stand on wheel if you need bit of extra height.

if that bosch fits, then yuasa also fits too
https://www.bmstechnologies.co.uk/p...lver-high-performance-car-battery-type-020-2/

We replaced our battery on L322 vogue 2005 at the beginning of the year with a
533107 Silver 020 12V Car Battery 5 Year Guarantee 110AH 920CCA 0/1 B13 By Varta
From ebay cost was £140 but is now £152. Battery fits in perfectly, although as previously mentioned it is a tight fit and not easy...have to have the bonnet adjusted fully backward to access.

nevillen said:

We replaced our battery on L322 vogue 2005 at the beginning of the year with a
533107 Silver 020 12V Car Battery 5 Year Guarantee 110AH 920CCA 0/1 B13 By Varta
From ebay cost was £140 but is now £152. Battery fits in perfectly, although as previously mentioned it is a tight fit and not easy...have to have the bonnet adjusted fully backward to access.

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I have had problems with Varta batteries in cold weather.

Datatek said:

I have had problems with Varta batteries in cold weather.

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Same here, had one on my disco 2 td5 few years back, always started but didn’t like it, swapped it for yuasa and the way it started in cold was night & day, despite both batteries being same Ah and CCA.

rich28uk said:

Definitely sounds like a weak battery, as above check alternator output with full load and idle no load.
I replaced my battery in September with this one
https://www.tayna.co.uk/car-batteries/bosch/s5015/
this is the one often Recomended on here for td6, especially Vogue with its extra electrics. It does only just fit but wouldn’t say it’s difficult to swap, put bonnet into service position and there’s plenty of access. It is obvious a weighty item but I found it easier putting new one in than old one out, put suspension normal mode not access, this gives you room to stand on wheel if you need bit of extra height.

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I bought mine from Tanya, for my RR, 150 amp, £100 delivered, it is a tight fit, but it has been brilliant. The make is Enduro, never heard of them, 5 year guarantee, but it works great, so why pay £200 odd for a Bosch one.

Vogueman said:

I bought mine from Tanya, for my RR, 150 amp, £100 delivered, it is a tight fit, but it has been brilliant. The make is Enduro, never heard of them, 5 year guarantee, but it works great, so why pay £200 odd for a Bosch one.

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An urgent message of caution!!!

Hi All I have a 2003 L322 Td6 Vogue to which my garage fitted an H3 Varta AGM battery earlier this year. I had to remove it and retrofit it with an Enertec 110Ah 960CCA, which is exactly the same size (L.W.H.) as the Varta I1 or the Bosch Type 020.

The early L322 Td6's are fitted with an old type Alternator which puts out a peak 14.2V. This in combination with an AGM battery can give all sorts of issues with HDC, trans. failsafe etc. error messages. But worst of all in my case it started to play havoc with the gearbox control unit (incorrect system voltage!!!!), where it would slip during kickdown shifts from 5th to 4th gear at speeds above 110km/h. The gearbox was fully rebuilt some 2000km ago.

Since I have fitted the old style flooded cell 110Ah 960CCA battery, all these error messages as well as the gearbox misbehaving have cleared and not come back since.

To explain, an AGM battery needs a new type alternator that can charge up to 14.7 - 15.0V all depending on load, charge state of the battery etc.

Hopefully this information will assist some members

Agreed although some alternators can knock out more volts which is why a control module needed.
A similar thing applies to cars requiring an agm battery that are fitted with regular flooded batteries to save money and then incurre their own issues.

AGM batteries should never be used unless the car was fitted with one from new, they have different charging requirements.
I would add that I have had bad experiences with normal Varta batteries.